There’s a pair of very important things to consider when you read the following list of the 5 most hated teams in the NFL. First of all, this is just my opinion on what I see from people I talk to on a regular basis to what’s being said on Sportscenter. With that standardized disclaimer, we’re off.

5. Oakland Raiders

We start our top 5 countdown with a team that’s consistently been the butt of many personnel jokes over the past decade. Still, they’ve been able to build a competitive roster in the past couple of years, but they’ve failed to put it together in the form of a playoff run. The Raiders are entering the 2012 season as an underdog. Even with their poor luck over the past decade, they’re still a team we love to hate.

4. Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys may be “America’s team,” but they’re also viewed as one of the most arrogant organizations in the league. Jerry Jones would have fired a general manager with his own track record years ago, but well, he can’t exactly fire himself now can he? Still, you would think a mind so great and all knowing as his could put together a team that’s built to go deep in the playoffs. The greatest thing his team has done in the past decade was in building Jerry’s World.

3. New York Jets

The Jets are the poster boys of the NFL for dysfunctional teams. They continuously insist that Mark Sanchez is their guy (a notion that still confuses me), but then they bring in Tim Tebow, the most controversial figure in the NFL today. Rex Ryan can’t control his locker room, and he doesn’t know when to shut up and get results. In all honesty, I don’t think the word “hate” describes most peoples’ feelings towards the Jets. In all reality, they’re more of a running joke than a team to hate.

2. New England Patriots

Bill Belichick and Tom Brady; two guys that nearly everyone loves to hate. It’s possible that we hate them because they’ve been to 5 Super Bowls together, winning the first 3. It’s possible that we hate them because they win so damn often, and it’s possible we hate them because they never drop us enough information in their press conferences. Regardless of the reasons, we know one thing. We really hate the New England Patriots.

1. New Orleans Saints

A year ago, I wouldn’t have thought it was possible for a team to be hated more than the Patriots while Tom Brady and Bill Belichick were still in the NFL, but then the Saints went off and proved me wrong. People don’t hate the Saints because they likely orchestrated a bounty system. People hate the Saints because they are still claiming innocence, even as the NFL begins to release evidence that appears to be “compelling” according to Peter King.

About Shane Clemons

Shane Clemons came from humble beginnings creating his own Jaguars blog before moving on to SBNation as a featured writer for the Jaguars. He then moved to Bloguin where he briefly covered the AFC South before taking over Bloguin's Jaguars blog. Since the inception of This Given Sunday, Shane has served as an editor for the site, doing his best not to mess up a good thing.